Will 'Clinton Cash' become the first big test of Hillary's campaign?

Updated
'Clinton Cash' Makes Waves Even Before Hitting Shelves
'Clinton Cash' Makes Waves Even Before Hitting Shelves


Hillary Clinton has been officially running for president for less than two weeks, but she's already facing what many are calling her first big test.

A new book called "Clinton Cash" set to be published on May 5 puts her family's charity under the microscope. Author Peter Schweizer, a former President George W. Bush speechwriting consultant, claims to tell "the story of how and why foreign governments and businesses helped make Bill and Hillary rich."

Schweizer alleges in the book that Hillary Clinton traded favors for foreign entities while she was secretary of state in return for speaking fees and donations to the Clinton Foundation.

According to The New York Times, the alleged deals include a free-trade agreement in Colombia that benefitted a foundation donor, development projects after the Haitian earthquake that were funded by the Algerian government and more than one million dollars in speaking fees to Bill Clinton from a Canadian bank involved in the Keystone XL pipeline.

While some have questioned whether the book provides sufficient evidence for its claims, even liberal blog ThinkProgress acknowledged Schweizer "does raise questions about unsavory donors and possible conflicts of interest, regardless of whether or not they dictated Clinton's policy" after obtaining an advance copy of the book.

Republican presidential rival Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has spoken out on the book as well.

"I've been briefed by Peter Schweizer on this book, and the facts are going to be alarming," he said in an interview with Fox News. "They're going to be mind boggling, and I think people are going to be saying 'My goodness, how is this happening in America?'"

The book comes after reports in February that the Clinton Foundation was accepting donations from foreign governments, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and that same Canadian Bank with interests in Keystone XL.

Last week, the Clinton Foundation changed its donation rules, allowing foreign governments to continue to contribute but barring funds from some countries in the Middle East.

At a campaign event in New Hampshire, Clinton herself called the questions raised by Schweizer's book "distractions."

The Clinton camp appears poised to try to ignore the allegations. According to an internal memo obtained by Politico.

"The book relies on distortions of widely available data that the Clinton Foundation already makes public on its own," the memo reads. "The author attempts to repackage and twist these previously known facts into absurd conspiracy theories."

Do you think the book will proof problematic for Clinton's campaign?

Advertisement